Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Mohammed Basharat, who was killed in 2001Mohammed Basharat, who was killed in 2001

A MAN was charged with the murder of Bradford taxi driver Mohammed Basharat 19 years ago.

Ricardo Linton, 45, is accused of the killing in Bradford on October 20, 2001.

Linton, of no fixed address, was before the court on a video link to Leeds Prison. He was wearing a bright yellow and green top.

Rachel Darby, Linton’s barrister, told the court: “It will be a Not Guilty plea.”

A Plea and Trial Preparation hearing, when Linton will formally answer the charge, was set for October 28.

The trial, expected to last four to five weeks, was fixed to begin on June 21 next year. It will be held at Bradford Crown Court, probably before a High Court Judge.

There was no application for bail.

Mr Basharat, 33, of Leylands Lane, Heaton, was killed at the offices of Little Horton Taxis, in Park Lane, Little Horton.

In December, 2011, in a new appeal for information, the Telegraph & Argus reported that the father of four was shot twice in the head by a hooded lone gunman who burst into the minicab office.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Dawn CaswellDawn Caswell

A WOMAN was jailed for 18 months after a man was punched and kicked in a violent street robbery.

Dawn Caswell and a female accomplice set upon their victim at 3am in Low Street, Keighley town centre, after he had been to a nightclub.

After they had approached him, he took out his wallet to give them a small amount of money to get rid of them. One of the women grabbed his wallet and they ran off.

The court was told that the man gave chase and caught the robber but her accomplice attacked him, kicking and punching him until he went to the ground.

He managed to hang on to his phone but his wallet containing up to £80 was stolen.

The man rang the police and was taken to hospital after banging his head when he fell.

He suffered a bump on the head and bruising in the incident on June 24, 2018, the court was told.

The victim chanced on the women in the street a fortnight later and photographed them. They were arrested and Caswell, 46, of Parkwood Rise, Keighley, made no comment when questioned by the police.

She went on to plead guilty to robbery on the day of her trial.

The man told the court in his victim personal statement that he had felt down after the mugging. He was sore and bruised and suffered sleepless nights. He had become introverted and did not want to go out any more.

Caswell had no previous convictions for robbery but she was currently serving a sentence in HMP Newhall for other less serious offences, the court heard.

Her barrister, Shufqat Khan, said she was leading a different lifestyle at the time of the robbery. She was homeless and misusing drugs.

She had mental health problems and because of the Covid-19 pandemic she was spending most of the time in her cell.

“This has given her time to reflect and she wants to put her offending behind her,” Mr Khan said.

Judge Jonathan Rose said it was a sad case. Caswell had a long history of offending but he conceded she had mental health problems and issues with drugs.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Judge Rose and Bradford Crown CourtJudge Rose and Bradford Crown Court

A JUDGE warned defendants claiming to have symptoms of the coronavirus that it was not a long-term “get out of court card.”

Judge Jonathan Rose fully acknowledged the devastating effects of Covid-19 but said that people who did not turn up for their cases because they feared they had the virus needed to get tested and not keep on merely absenting themselves when the case was relisted.

He issued a warrant after a woman did not appear for her sentencing hearing after telling her legal team she still had symptoms of the virus almost a month after her case was adjourned because she said she was unwell.

Judge Rose said the woman had had ample time to get tested following the postponement of her case.

The warrant will be executed if she does not produce a Covid-19 test result, whether positive or negative, by Friday.

Judge Rose stressed that he did not want defendants with symptoms of the virus turning up at the court building but they needed to follow up their absence by getting a test result to send to the court.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

A MAN caught bagging up a £12,700 stash of high-purity crack cocaine was spared an immediate prison sentence after making huge strides to turn his life around.

Recorder Sam Green QC told Waqas Raja that help in the community would do him more good than being locked up in “a Covid-riddled establishment” for little over a year with no intervention.

Raja, 28, of Hilton Grove, Shipley, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and her-oin between January 1 and April 10 last year.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said that police searched his then address in Chellowfield Court, Heaton, Brad-ford, on April 9, 2019.

They seized 169 grams of crack cocaine with a purity of 60 to 92% and a street value of £12,700.

Also discovered was £875 worth of heroin of 60% purity, and drugs paraphernalia including a dealer list, bags, scales and caffeine and paracetamol cutting agent.

Raja was immediately frank with the police, telling them he was on Jobseekers’ Allowance and in debt. He said he smoked cannabis most days and occasionally used cocaine.

Mr Nicholson said he had no previous convictions for drugs trafficking offences.

Raja’s barrister, Shufqat Khan, urged the court to give him a chance.

He had written to the judge expressing his dismay and repentance, and sorrow for tarnishing the reputa-tion of his highly-regarded family.

Raja’s father had also written “an articulate and heartfelt” letter.

Mr Khan said that in early 2019, his client’s life was spiralling out of control. He had moved out of the family home and got in with the wrong company.

He had since turned his life around, asking his father for forgiveness and obtaining full-time employment as a boiler fitter.

Raja was drug free and keen to build a new future after making a huge mistake.

Recorder Green sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He must obey a 12 month electronically monitored curfew order and undertake 30 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service.

Raja was also ordered to pay £200 towards the costs of the prosecution.

Recorder Green said he was a young man who had shown genuine remorse.

His offending had caused his father “emotional agony” detailed in a moving letter to the court. His son was no longer in the pocket of the drug dealers and the family was rallying round to support him.

“It’s not going to do you any good to go to a Covid-riddled establishment with no intervention,” the Re-corder said.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Richard WearRichard Wear

A 62-YEAR-OLD man was jailed for five years and three months for the historic sexual abuse of a young girl.

Richard Wear groomed the child before molesting her, the court was told.

Wear, of Wells Court, Boothtown, Halifax, pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual assault of a girl under 13 and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Catherine Silverton said he touched the girl indecently over her clothing and made her touch him indecently on one occasion.

When questioned by the police, he accused the girl of telling lies.

The complainant said in her victim personal statement that she had been left with chronic anxiety and panic attacks that left her struggling to breathe.

Lydia Carroll said in mitigation that Wear was a man of previous good character who had recently had a stroke. He would be at risk of Covid-19 in prison.

Judge Andrew Hatton said Wear had at first tried to shift the blame on to his victim.

“This is indeed serious offending. There is an element of grooming behaviour,” he said.

Wear was a retired man of previous good character and with health problems.

Judge Hatton said he bore in mind the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on life in prison at the moment, but a lengthy jail sentence was inevitable.

Wear must sign on the sex offender register for life and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made for an indefinite period.